In a surprise move, this morning Second Life developer Linden Lab announced that it is acquiring Desura, a digital distribution service used by indies and larger publishers.

"Desura's talented team, thriving business and impressive technology are a great fit for Linden Lab," CEO Rod Humble said in a statement announcing the acquisition, the second that the company has made this year. It previously acquired Blocksworld, an iPad brick-building game.

"Our aim is to invest and support the Desura team in making it the most open and developer-friendly platform in the world," Humble continued.